Archive for December, 2009

With all the cold and frost over the last few days I felt a visit to check out the hives would be appropriate.

All seemed well, I was interested to see what wild life activity would be in evidence via tracks in the snow. As it turns out the only tracks were of humans and dogs using the gap in the fence near the hut as a public through way.

There were no untoward tracks near the hives and definitely no evidence of woodpeckers.

The hives facing South had their entrances filled with snow and backed up with ice so I cleared the entrances.

I was hoping to see melted snow on some of the roofs confirming the colonies were surviving, however I think with the air temperature at -2°C this was not going to happen.

I forgot to take my camera with me on the visit, so below is a photo of my hives with their mini snow drifts at some of the entrances.

As I mentioned on my last visit the contractor doing work at the back of one of the gardens well and truly messed the track up, it was like driving on ice. So please leave your vehicle at the gate if you need to visit the apiary.

The temperature was 8°C, so no bees flying.

The number of dead bees at the entrance of number 4 hive has increased slightly, there were a number of dead bees below the stand of number 10 (photos below). What is concerning me is that these two hives are the lightest in weight and possibly the lowest in stores.

If you do need to go to the Apiary, unless you have a 4 wheel drive vehicle please park on the road and walk.

Yesterday, arriving at the entrance to the lane to the Apiary the road was covered in mud, the gate open and the track all churned up. My car slipped all over the place in the first 50 yards so I parked up as soon as I reached the field. It appears that one of the houses that backs onto the field is having major construction work done to the bottom of their garden and the builders dumper truck and cement trucks are using the Apiary track as their main route, thus churning the route up.

After the coldest night of the year so far I wanted to check out the hives, as expected there no bees were flying and all hives except Hive 4 the entrances were clear of dead bees. Hive 4 had 8 dead bees at the entrance in and around the mouse guard. The entrance was clear so not a real worry, I have noted that I need to keep an eye on this hive.

On my last visit I noted faeces on the roof of hive 10. I have attached photo and would appreciate it if someone could identify it.